Night\"Mare\" experience
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 8/20/10
I wsh to complain about the Smoky Mountain Stables on N. Hwy 321 in Gatlinburg, TN.
On Sunday August 1, 2010 my family went there for a ride. I was placed on the horse named “King Kong”. They told me it was their biggest horse, even though I am only 160lbs, and I am smaller than many of the other riders that were there that day. They assured me it was their best horse. I was surprised that we were given no instructions. They merely helped us onto the horses, told us not to pull back too hard on the reins, not to let them eat, and then we were off! After we were 10 minutes into the ride the employee leading the pack informed us that due to rain the horses did not ride the previous day and would be on edge and overly anxious to run and misbehave. All along the ride many of the horses did act unruly, and many stopped to eat vegetation on the trail. The employee leading the pack yelled at the riders to pull back on the harnesses to stop them. At one point one rider’s horse got out of control and all her friends were calling for help. The leader only yelled at her to keep up! About 45 minutes into the ride “King Kong” began to eat vines on the path. When I pulled back on his harness he went into violent convulsions and tried to buck me off five or six times. My left hand came down hard on the saddle horn. (My hand swelled up very badly, and even today I cannot use it without experiencing pain.) The leader yelled at the horse, but offered no assistance. He later said he had never the horses act so badly. The next day I called to discuss my problem, but the manager “Larry” (he would not give me his last name) would not listen to anything I had to say. He would not even let me complete a sentence! He yelled at me, then hung up on me! I realize I have no legal recourse regarding my injury, but I must complain about such unprofessional treatment. This was a horrible experience for me and my family.